How To Modernise Your Home Without Renovating or Extending

With the growing number of home interior accounts on Instagram, it’s no wonder we’re surrounded by serious ‘home envy’. Let’s not even start to think about how much Pinterest can inspire us to want to modernise our homes often, too!

We all know that do-it-yourself-er out there who work tirelessly on their home and seems to be updating or renovating on a constant basis. But let’s be honest: this is not possible for those of us who don’t know the difference between a saw and a screwdriver.

One of the most popular options is to hire a DIY professional to come in and tackle those home update jobs. However, this can end up fairly pricey and can take up a lot of time researching and planning when it involves anyone external working at your home.

So, the question is: how can we update our homes while skipping on having major renovations?

Let’s look at some imaginative ways to update our homes, without spending a fortune of external contractors or DIY companies – and without ripping down any walls.

1. Create More Open Space

When you research into home buying, you’ll find that plenty of studies have been done which say that open floor plans top the list when it comes to what people want from a home. If you think about it, a spacious, open layout always feels less cluttered and looks more modern.

New builds are now being built and designed around sharing that large, open space across the kitchen, family room and dining room. In fact, dining rooms seem to be slowly filtered out of new home layout plans, with open plan kitchen and diners being favoured.

So how can you do this without tearing down walls, you ask? Making your home seem open and airy can be easier than you think. Sometimes it’s as simple as getting rid of bigger, bulkier furnishings, or moving furnishings around the room to see what placement gives the most open space. Another trick is to feature more window and glass where doors currently are.

For example, you could replace any chunky, wooden doors that separate your lounge and your kitchen with glass filled bi-folding doors, which open up the visual aspect by letting you see through to the adjoining room. These also open by a folding mechanism, immediately opening up the two rooms. Any other doors which don’t feature glass can give the illusion of a closed-in space, so look at replacing these if budget allows.

Another trick of the eye that gives the illusion of open space is to utilise mirrors. When you place mirrors opposite windows, they will instantly reflect light into the room and make the room seem more open.

2. Paint with neutrals to give a cleaner feel

Credit: Alexandra Gorn, Unsplash

In an ideal world, you would own one of these minimalist houses, where the furniture and features are super sleek, and everything in slimline. In reality, you have too many large pieces of furniture you just can’t let go off, not to mention afford to replace and upgrade to a more stylish version.

However, with any old wooden chairs, storage units or tables that you currently have, assess if they can be painted. Wooden furniture is brilliant for painting, and a few coats of fresh cream or bright white will immediately give a new lease of life to any feature.

By updating old, bulky items by painting in bright whites or soft creams give a newer, more modern approach. They also look cleaner and will blend in seamlessly in your chosen rooms.

3. Invest in new lighting

Credit: Naomi Hebert

With the right lighting in place, it can truly bring a room to life. A poorly lit room looks small, dull and cramped, while a brightly lit room appears open, airy and welcoming. There are numerous ways to brighten up your home with lights, although some of them do require the help of an electrician to install these correctly and safely.

Some of the easier methods which you can do yourself are to have a good shop around for new table lamps and floor lamps. There are some super stylish versions around which can really dress up a dull corner of the room, or those minimalist Scandi-style exposed bulb lamps which work well dotted around the home.

If you want to be a little more adventurous, you can replace all those out-dated ceiling fixtures with the stunning modern masterpieces that are available on the market. Fitted spotlights and LED are increasingly becoming more popular, especially the ones that come with a dimming effect. Whether you keep it simple with floor lamps, or go all out and replace all your ceiling fixtures – modernise your home with plenty of bright lights.

4. Update your window treatments

How we dress our windows is something we don’t give a lot of thought to. However, how you style up and present your windows can actually make them more of a focal point. Poorly ‘decorated’ windows can make the room look dark, shabby and unwelcoming.

If you have incredible views of the beach, sea, or miles of countryside, it’s totally understandable to leave your windows bare (just keep your windows clean!). But even the best of views could be framed by stylish window panels. Windows can be dressed to perfectly suit your style and taste, with pretty curtains or stylish blinds.

When you start researching into ways to dress your windows, you’ll discover the options are endless. There are some gorgeous wooden blinds which look modern and fresh, yet the options of flowing curtains can equally be as beautiful. If you are stressing about all the possibilities, then take a cue from the colour schemes that you already have in place. Sometimes the easiest option is to simply match curtain panels to the colour of your walls for a blended look.

Remember that cosmetic changes are sometimes seriously overlooked, and it’s amazing what updated you can create by looking at the more manageable tasks.